Note: All times are Central.

11:03 a.m. — Right now I'm being put to sleep by Yo-Yo Ma and other musicians of sorts performing a very relaxing symphony. Come on, it's time for the excitement!

OK, there we go — Barack Obama JUST swore in to the presidential office.

For many reasons, most of which I'm not sure of at this point, a rushing feeling of relief just swept through my body. He's supposed to fix America. He's supposed to be our "savior." Most Americans have mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness; can President Obama really do all the things we think and hope he will?

In the debates in the previous months, Obama continuously said that he's "not a miracle worker." It's true; Barack Obama is just a human being like you and me.

11:08 a.m. — President Obama's inauguration speech has just begun. Obama's stern yet wise face explains the long path ahead of us; he is reassuring yet does not exaggerate or compensate. Now we are really getting down to the serious stuff.

He tells us of our journey, as he calls it. What I think most Americans don't realize is that our problems won't be fixed immediately. It will take time; it is a process.

11:15 a.m. — "We must pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off," says our president.

I don't mean to sound solemn, but President Obama is breaking the hard truth to us right now. America is in a slump. I think Obama's job will be mostly to patch up, restore, and dig our nation out of the deep hole it has dug itself.

It will be some time before we can move forward; we need to get ourselves in line with things before we can get ahead of them.

11:19 a.m. — I have a short attention span. I have a bad tendency to lose focus during speeches. Like I just did right now during Obama's speech. But I just have this feeling that I've heard all of this before in the presidential debates. Energy, economy, health care, Iraq … same-old same-old. All promises. We wait to see if they will be broken or not, because so much or our future and our children's future depend on them. Am I being too pessimistic? How am I supposed to react to all of these ideas, promises, and plans?

11:24 a.m. — I would just like to point out that I actually like President Obama's voice. For some reason we have always been able to point out annoying attributes of political figures. From Sarah Palin's chipmunk voice to John McCain's stone-like movements and facial expressions to Joe Biden's constant use of the third-person, we always do it.

But Obama has nothing to make fun of or to be irritated about. His voice is very calming, attention-grabbing, stern, and assured. His facial expressions are always very stoic. Maybe this is a sign …

11:34 a.m. — Can anyone tell me what the heck Rev. Lowery is saying in his speech?!?!

Hey, wow — everyone in the crowd is beginning to leave now …

11:35 a.m. — Congrats, President Obama! Congrats America!